Boat hull



Jan. 4, 1966 H. c. NOE 3,227,122

BOAT HULL Filed April 28, 1964 CH 2+ 5 Fig.|

IO m V i\ q I5 7 7 I INVENTOR HAROLD c. N E l6 C l-6 9;; 2,

@ORNEY United States Patent 3,227,122 BOAT HULL Harold C. Noe, 127 Buckingham Road, Upper Montclair, NJ. Filed Apr. 28, 1964, Ser. No. 363,102 1 Claim. (Cl. 114-665) The present invention relates to hulls for boats and the like, and more particularly, to a hull which is an improvement over the type of hull disclosed in my co-pending US. Patent Application Serial No. 195,538, filed May 17, 1962, now patent 3,137,261, dated June 16, 1964.

In the aforementioned application, a boat hull is disclosed which has a bottom provided with a series of fore and aftwise extending parallel ski-like rails or runners projecting downwardly from the bottom and being spaced apart a suflicient distance to provide channels between adjacent runners. The runners have a downwardly facing surface of a width to maintain the same on the surface of the water and create and direct sprays and waves of water into the channels to substantially fill the same.

While experiments have proven that such a hull is very effective in reducing skin friction, I have discovered that skin friction can be further reduced by improving the configuration of the runners.

Accordingly, the primary object of the present invention is to provide such runners which can be applied to all forms of boat hulls and the like.

Another object is to provide such runners which have a configuration for causing opposed spray and waves to impinge on each other in air.

A further object is to provide such runners in a simple, practical and economical manner.

Other and further objects of the invention will be ob vious upon an understanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described, or will be indicated in the appended claims, and various advantages not referred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employment of the invention in practice.

In accordance with the present invention, I have discovered that the foregoing objects can be accomplished by providing substantially parallel runners having sides and a downwardly facing generally flat horizontal surface formed with a portion adjacent each side edge there of for creating and directing sprays and waves of water beneath the flat surface.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary bottom plan view hull in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the on FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional View of one of the runners shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, there is shown a boat hull comprising a bottom 10, and a plurality of substantially parallel spaced apart fore and aftwise extending ski-like rails or runners 11, six of such runners being shown by way of example.

The hull shown herein has a bow curving upwardly from about B and being formed with a transverse forward edge. The runners as shown extend from about the foremost portion of the bow to about the stern although the runners could commence at any point of the bow above the water line. The sides of the hull may be provided with conventional chines CH; and the bottom may have an inverted V-shaped cross-section.

The two runners nearest the keel line may be spaced apart a slightly greater distance than the adjacent runners at each side between the keel and the respective chines.

As explained in the aforementioned patent application, the number of runners 11, the width and depth of of a boat line 22 the runners and the crosswise spacing of the runners depend upon the length and width of the hull aftwise of the bow and the weight of the boat. For example, a hull having a length L of about 13.0 feet and a nominal width W of about 6.5 feet may be equipped with six runners. These runners may have a width w of about 5.0 inches at the lower end and a depth d of about 5.0 inches thereby providing five channels C. In this manner, the runners have considerable width and depth and are spaced a substantial distance apart.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the runners 11 have upright sides 13 which curve or converge downwardly at 18 to reduce the wetted surface area in the channels C. Each runner has a flat or slightly curved downwardly facing middle surface 14 and a narrow depending formation 15 at each side edge of the surface 14 to provide the underside of the runner with a channel 0. The formations 15 have an outwardly and downwardly inclined or curved, downwardly facing surface 16 for directing sprays and waves of water into the channel 0. The formations 15 extend below the surface 14 a sufficient distance, for example, about 0.75 inch, to provide a space of suflicient dimension to allow sprays and waves to impinge on each other in air. The formations 15 have inner inclined or curved sides 17 extending from the inner edge of the inner edge of the surface 16 to the surface 14 to reduce wetted surface area in the channels C.

In operation, when the hull is propelled across the watter at good speed, the surfaces 16 create and direct opposing sprays and waves of water inwardly into the channel 0 of each runner 11 to provide foam for supporting the surfaces 14 with a minimum of skin friction acting on the surfaces 14; and the sides 13 of the runners are effective to create and direct larger opposing sprays and waves of water inwardly and upwardly into the channels C to provide support for the normal bottom surfaces N of the hull with a minimum of skin friction acting on the surfaces 14.

The combined and opposing action of spray and waves of water in the channels C and c causes practically the entire bottom of the bull to ride on a low friction film which greatly reduces skin friction acting on a hull. The depending outer side edges 18 of the surfaces 16 give the hull stability for maneuvering on turns.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that the present invention provides an improve-d bottom for a boat hull and the like. The runners can be readily formed of metal, wood, fiber glass or plastic resin or combinations of such materials and can be applied to newly built hulls or hulls already in use.

As various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts herein, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and without sacrificing any of its advantages, it is to be understood that all matter herein is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in any limiting sense.

I claim:

A boat hull comprising a bottom; and a plurality of substantially fore and aft extending ski-like runners on said bottom and extending downwardly therefrom to provide channels between adjacent runners, said runners each having a pair of downwardly converging sides formed with a curved upper portion merging with said bottom to reduce the wetted surface area in the channels and said runners each having a downwardly facing surface of a considerable width about equal to the downward extent of said runners, adjacent runners being spaced apart a distance to provide a channel of a cross-sectional area at least equal to and exceeding slightly the cross-sectional area of said runners, said downwardly facing surfaces each being formed with a pair of downwardly diverging depending formations one at each side and substantially parallel to each other to provide a channel in each runner, said formations having a curved upper portion merging with said surface to reduce the wetted surface area in the channel of said runners, said formations creating and directing opposing sprays and waves of water into the channel of said runners to provide foam for supporting said downwardly facing runner surfaces with a minimum of skin friction acting thereon and said runner sides creating and directing larger opposing sprays and waves inwardly and upwardly into the channels between adjacent runners to provide support for the bottom surfaces of said hull with a minimum of skin friction action thereon.

References Cited by the Examiner Canazzi 11456 Kiss l14--66.5 X Merkley et a1. 9-31O Houser 9310 Fuller 11466.5 Noe- 114-665 10 MILTON BUCHLER, Primary Examiner.

FERGUS S. MIDDLETON, Examiner. 

